


if i ever fall in love

by dreamoas



Category: TOMORROW X TOGETHER | TXT (Korea Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Daycare, Alternate Universe - Non-Famous, Choi Yeonjun-Centric, M/M, Misunderstandings, Oblivious Choi Soobin, Oblivious Choi Yeonjun, Strangers to Lovers, Whipped Choi Yeonjun, also featuring my fave 02s as hyuka's chaotic evil classmates, beomgyu doesnt make a physical appearance in this fic, but he lives in yeonjun's mind AND kkt messages rent free, hyuka is a toddler bc i do what i want
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-19
Updated: 2020-11-19
Packaged: 2021-03-09 23:47:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 17,619
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27584291
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dreamoas/pseuds/dreamoas
Summary: Yeonjun is tasked with picking up his nephew from daycare. It was simple enough, until Yeonjun caught a glimpse of the assistant teacher of Kai’s class— Choi Soobin. However, Soobin doesn’t seem to be too fond of his favorite student’s uncle, and Yeonjun is determined to change that.
Relationships: Choi Soobin/Choi Yeonjun
Comments: 26
Kudos: 313
Collections: txt fic fest





	if i ever fall in love

**Author's Note:**

> this is prompt #5 for txt fic fest!
> 
> i had a lot of fun writing this as i am a daycare teacher myself! also this fic totally spiraled, sorry this ended up being so long and probably not entirely prompt-related lol.
> 
> the title is from the song "if i ever fall in love" by shai because it came on shuffle while i was finishing up this fic and if you read the lyrics the first part kinda fits.
> 
> thanks to the prompter for giving me a reason to write a daycare au and also to the mods for setting this up! and ofc, to all my lovely mutuals who had to watch my mental breakdowns on twitter. ♡
> 
> enjoy! ♡

Yeonjun, with his whole heart, truly believed that the world was against him on that _horrendous_ Thursday morning.

He has watched these moments play out in a majority of the dramas he (binge-)watches on the regular— eventually though, in the end, everything goes right for the main character; they get their dream job, they get the love interest, their skin clears and a beautiful OST sung by one of Korea's top idols closes out the final scene. Life is _beautiful_.

Unfortunately, Yeonjun isn't the main character in a drama, and today _sucks_.

He’d woken up two hours after his alarm had gone off, having spent all night working on an assignment for his second class of the day (it wasn’t his fault that Beomgyu had roped him into playing whatever new game he was into every night for the last week— he usually had self-control, but he was actually _good_ at this one). He’d rushed to campus after realizing he’d missed the majority of his first class, and, in his desperate attempt to make sure he didn’t miss his second one, forgot to eat breakfast.

Not only did he look like absolute _shit_ , but he was tired and hungry, and he was completely certain that everyone in his class could hear his stomach grumbling in the back of the classroom.

At the end of class when it was time to hand in their assignment, Yeonjun tore apart the entirety of his backpack in search of it, only to realize that he had left it on his desk that morning. This had ended with him _begging_ his professor to let him email it to him while they stood there, waving his phone around as he desperately attempted to show that he wasn’t lying about having completed it.

(His professor had been so thrown off by Yeonjun’s outburst that he agreed to let him email it to him just to get him to shut up. Yeonjun had almost cried when his professor told him he got it, and everything was fine.)

Because of his assignment fiasco, he was late for work and ended up getting an earful from Hoseok, the owner of the dance studio. Normally, Hoseok would be on his case about something anyway ( _"Yeonjun-ah, this isn’t the music I wanted!”, “Yeonjun-ah, I need waaaater!”, “Yeonjun-ah, for the love of God, put a shirt on!”_ ), but Yeonjun was barely sorting through his emotions by the time he had changed his clothes, so he’d taken it a little more to heart than usual.

He’d given it a little less than his best during class that night; he was sure his students probably noticed, and he figured Hoseok would want to speak with him when he was finished showering. All he really wanted to do was go home and eat something that wasn’t the gross protein bar Taehyun had slid him out of pity during their break time. He and Beomgyu were supposed to hang out after Yeonjun got home from work, but he’d already made up his mind that he was going to tell Beomgyu and his video games to go fuck themselves (for tonight, at least. There was always tomorrow).

He was just about to remove his clothes when his phone began to vibrate, successfully sliding itself off the counter and onto the locker room floor. He contemplates just throwing himself to the floor in defeat, wishfully hoping that he would break in the same way that his screen probably had, but picks his phone up against his better judgement to see that his brother was the one calling him.

(Not a single crack in his screen to be found.)

“Taehyung-hyung!” The excitement in Yeonjun’s voice was genuine.

“Yeonjun-ah, you sound happy.” His brother said. He sounded far away, probably on speaker. Yeonjun figured he was probably stuck at work.

“This is the happiest I’ve been all day.” He said, fiddling with the drawstring of his sweatpants. “Don’t ask.”

“I won’t then!” He heard Taehyung’s chuckle, causing him to smile. “Are you busy right now?”

A million thoughts raced through Yeonjun’s mind. He could just be honest and say yes, he had a hot date with the singular cup of instant ramen he had in his apartment before he passed out on his couch for approximately seven to eight hours, but what ended up coming out of his mouth was, “nope, I’m just finishing up at work.”

“I’d hate to ask you this, but everyone else I’ve asked isn’t available.” Taehyung paused, the sound of typing on a keyboard audible from his end of the line, “sorry about that— I really need someone to pick up Hueningie from daycare. I’m stuck at work and I won’t be able to get him before they close.”

Yeonjun immediately perked up at the mention of his three-year-old nephew. He could totally ditch his lonely date night with a cup of ramen for Kai. _Anything_ for Kai!

“I’ll get him!” Yeonjun put his phone on speaker, immediately making a move to remove his clothes to shower. “Just send me the address of the daycare!”

“Glad you’re so enthusiastic!” Taehyung sounded a bit closer now, probably sending Yeonjun the information. “Hueningie misses you, I bet he’ll be excited to see you.”

Yeonjun had never showered and changed so fast in his life. He completely ignored Hoseok’s attempt to stop him on his way out, a quick _I’ve gotta pick up my nephew!_ thrown over his shoulder as he took off out the door, his fingers making quick work of cancelling his plans with Beomgyu as he made his way to the address his brother had sent him.

When Yeonjun arrived at the daycare a little before five o’clock, he quickly walked in behind someone else, noticing that they had input a code to enter the building. He made his way straight ahead to the front desk where an older woman was sitting, already giving him a warm smile.

“Hello! And who might you be?” she asks, adjusting her glasses as she spoke.

“Uh, Choi Yeonjun…my brother Taehyung sent me to pick up my nephew Huening Kai.” Yeonjun said.

“Did he? He didn’t mention that there was an alternate pickup today.” The woman said, quickly checking something on her laptop.

“He said he called half an hour ago.” Yeonjun quickly pulled up the message from his brother, checking when he had sent his last text. He showed it to the woman, and she only shook her head.

“Unfortunately, I can’t let you pick him up unless I hear it directly from your brother.”

Yeonjun held back the overwhelming urge to slam his face into the woman’s desk. What else was going to go wrong today?

“I’ll see if our director answered the phone, if not I’ll ask Kai’s teachers if they’ve heard anything.” The woman offered him a hopeful smile, making her way into the office behind her. Yeonjun could see her speaking to another woman through the door, his mood deflating once more when he saw the other woman shake her head. The woman— presumably, the center director— picked up her phone, speaking to someone for a minute before hanging up.

The woman he originally spoke to came back out, taking a seat at the desk again and shook her head, “sorry, our director never heard from your brother and neither did Kai’s teachers. We’ll give him a call to confirm with him.”

Yeonjun muttered a quick thank you before taking a seat to a bench off to the side, sending Taehyung a quick text to answer his phone. He watched as parents came and went as the woman attempted to call his brother several times.

Eventually she made eye contact with Yeonjun, motioning for him to come back over. He took a quick look at his phone, realizing that Taehyung never saw any of his messages, and slid it back into his pocket before making his way over.

The woman placed her laptop onto the raised part of her desk, pointing to a list of phone numbers listed under his brother’s name, “does he have any other numbers outside of these?”

“No, those are it.” Yeonjun replied. It had already been twenty-five minutes since he had arrived, and he was nowhere close to picking up his nephew.

“We’ll try a couple more times.” She pulled the laptop back down and spoke once more, “it’s not that we don’t trust you, it’s just that, even though you're listed as an emergency contact, we weren't given any notice so we legally can’t let you take your nephew.”

Yeonjun completely understood where they were coming from, but he was tired and hungry and _desperately_ needed the serotonin boost his nephew would inevitably bring about when he saw him.

It was then that the phone rang, breaking Yeonjun out of his thoughts. The woman answered the phone with her long, obligatory greeting, shooting Yeonjun a huge relieved smile when the person on the other line started speaking.

“Yes, thank you _so much_ for getting back to us.” She said, giving Yeonjun a thumbs up. “He’s standing right here; he’s been really patient with the whole process!”

Thank _God._ It was Taehyung.

He could finally go _eat_.

After what seemed like an eternity, the woman hung up the phone.

“You’re all set!” She said, standing up from her chair. “I'll take you down to his classroom, please follow me!"

She quickly led Yeonjun down the hall, stopping in front of a large window that peered directly into a classroom. He could spot his nephew sitting in a chair at a table directly in the center of the room, coloring with another child and someone else whom Yeonjun assumed was a teacher. “This is his class! He’s such a good boy, I bet he’ll be excited to see you!”

Yeonjun couldn't help the smile that made its way to his face, “I hope so!”

He pushed open the door, causing Kai to look up from his drawing. Yeonjun felt the exhaustion from the day completely melt away when he saw his nephew’s eyes light up at the sight of him, and barely registered the screech he let out as he jumped up from his chair and ran to him.

“Uncle Junie!!”

The boy grabbed Yeonjun’s hands and jumped as high as he could, forcing Yeonjun to let go and catch him under his armpits in his best attempt to not drop him straight onto the floor.

“Hey Hueningie!” Yeonjun gave his nephew the biggest hug he could muster, but Kai was squirming so much he eventually had to put him back down on the floor. He bent down to be eye level with the child, “Daddy asked me to pick you up today, we’re going to go home and eat.”

“Yay!!” Kai screamed, causing Yeonjun to slightly jump at the ringing in his ears. “Oh no! Need paper!!”

Yeonjun watched as his nephew turned around and tried to make a run for his artwork, but the boy slammed into the legs of someone behind him, and a hand reached down quickly to steady him before he could fall.

“Walking feet in the classroom please, Ningning.” A soft voice said, the owner bending down to speak to Kai, “I have your paper right here.”

“Thank you Soobinnie!” The little boy grabbed the paper, whipping his body around to face Yeonjun, “Uncle Junie, look!”

And look Uncle Junie did.

He hadn’t meant to stare, but the man in front of him— Soobinnie?— was probably the most beautiful man he had ever seen, and Yeonjun, being the most overly dramatic person he knew of, was certain that he had fallen in love at first sight.

“Good evening, Yeonjun-ssi,” the other man said, “I’m Soobin, the assistant teacher of Kai’s class.”

Yeonjun shot up from the floor, nearly bumping heads with Kai in the process, before introducing himself, “yes! I’m Yeonjun! It’s nice to meet you, Soobin-ssi!”

When Soobin stood up from where he was bent down on the floor, Yeonjun made a mental note that the other man was, in fact, quite a bit taller than Yeonjun himself. His height could’ve been seen as intimidating, but his smile was sweet, and the crinkles it brought around his eyes were still noticeable under his dark brown bangs.

It didn’t matter at all, but Yeonjun felt small under Soobin’s gaze, the sudden realization that he probably looked like _shit_ compared to the taller crossed his mind. It was obvious to anyone that he had just come from work— his adidas track pants and his black shirt slightly wrinkled from being carelessly shoved into his bag before practice, and his blonde hair was still wet from the quick shower that did _nothing_ to wash away the exhaustion evident on his face. Soobin, on the other hand, was dressed about as nicely as you’d expect a teacher to be. He wore a blue button down shirt with his sleeves rolled up, the exposure of his forearms enough to make Yeonjun’s (exhausted) mind run _wild_ , and the standard pink apron that Yeonjun had noticed all the staff were wearing. If he was being honest, the apron looked kind of ridiculous, but Soobin made it work. It suit him somehow.

“Kai had a great day today, as usual.” Soobin began speaking, effectively bringing Yeonjun back to reality. “Oh! His bag’s over there— Ningning, can you grab your bag?”

Yeonjun barely registers his nephew running by him, too distracted by Soobin’s dimples as he smiles down at Kai. The teacher looks back up at him, and Yeonjun can feel his heart in his throat, unable to respond to anything Soobin has been saying to him.

He knows there’s no way that Soobin hasn’t noticed how red he is.

He _knows_ he’s screwed.

“Got it!” Kai grabs Yeonjun’s leg, swinging his bag up into the air for Yeonjun to reach out and catch. He almost misses it when he hears Soobin laugh at his nephew’s shenanigans, and curses himself for how ridiculous he must look to the other man.

“I think that’s all there was...his dad will get all the daily notes when I sign him out.” Soobin says. “It was nice to finally meet you, Yeonjun-ssi.”

“Y-yeah, you too.” Yeonjun manages to stutter out, reaching down to grab Kai’s hand. “Should we get going, Hueningie?”

There’s a pause before he hears the child gasp, and Kai retracts his hand and runs back to Soobin, “hug!”

Yeonjun has to hold back the urge to coo at the image before him; Soobin bending down as fast as he could to catch Kai in a bear hug, and Kai giggling as he squeezes his teacher as tightly as his little arms possibly could. He would’ve given _anything_ to have been recording the interaction.

“Sorry, he always gives me a goodbye hug when he leaves.” Soobin says as Kai skips back over to Yeonjun, grabbing his uncle’s hand.

“ _Cute_ ,” Yeonjun mutters, glad that Soobin didn't seem to hear him.

“Have a great night! See you tomorrow, Ningning!”

“Bye!!” Kai yells back as he drags Yeonjun out of the classroom, the door shutting behind them as they leave.

Yeonjun turns to look back through the window, but Soobin was already sitting back at the table, ruining Yeonjun’s chance at seeing him one last time.

  
  
  


Yeonjun’s lying on the floor of his brother’s living room when Taehyung finally returns home from work. Kai’s jumping up and down on his stomach, and Yeonjun just groans in pain, but the laughter it brings from his nephew is enough for him to let his own suffering continue.

“Yeonjunie, I’m _so_ sorry about tonight.” Taehyung jumps immediately into apologizing, “I was about to call and got dragged into an emergency meeting. I completely forgot about it.”

“It’s fine, hyung.” Yeonjun assures him, steadying Kai on his chest so that he could speak. “It all worked out in the end.”

“You both made it here in one piece, so I guess you’re right.”

“Yeah, and _you_ owe me food!”

Taehyung only laughs and holds up a bag, “way ahead of you, little bro.”

The three of them sit down at the dining room table after struggling to get a bib onto Kai who, despite his age, was still one of the messiest eaters in existence. It wasn’t even five minutes into dinner that he had dropped noodles completely down the front of him, his hands completely covered in sauce.

“I think I have a picture of you doing the exact same thing at his age.” Taehyung says, reaching over to wipe Kai’s face with a napkin.

“If it’s the picture where I’m asleep in a bowl of mac and cheese, I have that one.” Yeonjun replies.

“Wait, maybe it’s a picture of me with sauce in my hair? I don’t remember, we’re a family of slobs.”

Yeonjun chuckles and watches as Kai yawns, his eyes beginning to close as the excitement of the day finally catches up with him. Taehyung apologizes and excuses himself from the table, picking up his son and bringing him out of the dining room, and Yeonjun figures it’s probably to get Kai to bed.

He begins cleaning up from dinner, passing the time as he hears the bath running from across the apartment. He’s still not done when Taehyung reappears, Kai presumably sleeping in his bedroom.

“Thanks for cleaning up,” Taehyung says, patting Yeonjun on the back. “And thanks for picking up Hueningie today. He hasn’t stopped asking about you lately, so I’m glad he got to see you.”

“Sorry I haven’t been around too much. School and work have me busy.” Yeonjun’s not lying— he has been incredibly busy, but he knows he should be working to make more time for his family, especially when he’s been wasting his free time playing games with Beomgyu and watching dramas from the comfort of his couch.

“I know you’re busy, don’t worry about it.” Taehyung gives him a reassuring smile.

It’s silent as they work together to finish cleaning up, and Yeonjun’s giddiness from before begins to fade, exhaustion seeping into his bones. It must be obvious, because Taehyung grabs the plate from his hand and puts it into the sink, turning his body to face his younger brother.

“You can leave, you’ve had a long day. I’ll finish cleaning up.” He says, putting his foot down when he notices that Yeonjun is about to argue back, “no buts, go home and sleep!”

Yeonjun just stares at him before flicking water onto Taehyung’s face and making a run for the door, trying to keep his laughter down so that he doesn’t wake his nephew in the other room. His brother just flips him off from the kitchen, but quickly tears his attention away when his phone pings.

Yeonjun can hear a groan from the kitchen, and it's soon followed by "Yeonjunie, I'd hate to ask this of you, but can you pick up Hueningie again tomorrow?"

Yeonjun looks over at Taehyung from where he's tying his shoes in the doorway, noticing the way his brother's eyebrows are furrowed in agitation at his phone. "Sure, is everything okay?"

"Another late meeting." Taehyung simply says.

"What time should I get him?"

"Anytime is fine, I know you have school work to do. Just get him before six and I won’t get charged a late fee."

"I'll get him after my last class, we can spend the afternoon together!" Yeonjun smiles, pushing himself up from the floor in excitement.

"Don't use my son in your ploy to get out of studying!" Taehyung jokingly warns him.

"What can I say? Hueningie is a good accomplice."

Taehyung laughs, making his way over to the door, gently shoving Yeonjun out, "get out of here before I change my mind!"

It's on his way home that Yeonjun stops midstep, his heart suddenly racing when he realizes that, holy shit, he was going back to his nephew’s daycare again.

This was his chance to see Soobin once more.

He needed to tell Beomgyu.

  
  


* * *

  
  


BEOMGYU  
**20:08**

is it possible to fall in love at first sight  
**20:08**

what kind of deep shit are you in now  
**20:09**

i met a guy  
**20:09**

like, a REALLY cute guy  
**20:09**

ok  
**20:11**

im not even mad that he’s taller than me?  
**20:11**

and he has DIMPLES  
**20:11**

and nice forearms  
**20:12**

please tell me you had an actual convo with this guy  
**20:13**

or did you just stare at him from a distance  
**20:13**

we spoke  
**20:13**

kind of  
**20:13**

he’s hueningie's teacher  
**20:14**

we spoke about him  
**20:14**

wow your two favorite things  
**20:15**

your nephew and cute guys  
**20:16**

sounds like you had a good day  
**20:16**

it was actually terrible up until that point  
**20:16**

don’t get me started  
**20:16**

but you didn’t answer my question  
**20:16**

i don’t have an answer to your question  
**20:17**

ok rude  
**20:17**

are you ever going to see him again?  
**20:19**

im picking up hueningie tomorrow  
**20:20**

i assume he’ll be there  
**20:20**

don’t fuck up :)  
**20:21**

dude have some faith in me  
**20:21**

lol never  
**20:21**

  
  


* * *

  
  


The moment Yeonjun's class ends at three o'clock, he rushes out of the classroom, determined to get his nephew in a timely fashion.

And also to, just as importantly, catch a glimpse of Kai's super cute assistant teacher.

(It's not that Yeonjun is a little _too_ interested in a man he had only met once, and whose full name he only knew because he had sought it out on the employee board by the daycare entrance. He was just curious about the man his sweet, adorable nephew spent most of his days with, so _of course_ he had to do a little digging on social media to see if he could find _anything_ about him. It was all just pure curiosity, nothing more.

It's not his fault that he might have fallen a little harder upon finding Soobin's Twitter account, which was full of snoopy quotes and cute selfies that had Yeonjun giggling into his pillow like a schoolgirl with a crush.

Nothing weird at all.)

When he arrived at the center, he was buzzed in by the same kind woman at the front desk.

"Good afternoon, Yeonjun-ssi!" She greeted him, "lucky for you, your brother called this time! Do you remember your way to the classroom?"

"Yes, thank you," Yeonjun nodded his head, and she waved him off.

He made his way to the classroom, taking notice of the other rooms as he passed by. He hadn’t paid much attention the night before, but everything was so bright and colorful, and— outside of a couple kids who were obviously _not_ prepared to be awake after nap time— everyone seemed genuinely happy and excited to be there.

Yeonjun eventually made it to Kai’s classroom, peering in through the window to see his nephew sitting down to enjoy his snack.

He did feel bad that he was going to interrupt snack time, but when he saw Soobin turn and make eye contact with him, the corners of his lips tugging upwards in a welcoming smile, Yeonjun honestly couldn’t have cared any less about the toddler’s meal.

He pushed the door open, causing fourteen tiny pairs of eyes to look up directly at him.

“Uncle Junie! You back!”

Yeonjun watches as Kai flies out of his seat, his little legs moving too fast for the rest of his body, and falls directly onto the floor.

“Are you okay, Huening?” Yeonjun had barely registered the middle aged woman in the room next to Soobin, so he was surprised when he heard her say, “do you need help getting up?”

“Ningning okay!” Kai was back on his feet in seconds, grabbing Yeonjun by the hand and dragging him back to where he was sitting, “Uncle Junie, eat snack!”

Yeonjun knew there was no reason for him to be embarrassed, but the fact that there were thirteen other children staring at him from their seats made him squirm. It didn’t help that Soobin, looking as stunning as he had the night before, was standing there, eyeing him as Kai attempted to pull him down to the floor.

"Hueningie—" Yeonjun goes to speak, but is interrupted by the woman in the room.

"You're more than welcome to join Huening for snack!" She says, clapping her hands, "unless you have somewhere to be, but we always welcome family to sit and enjoy with the kids!"

And Yeonjun definitely can't say no to the way his nephew is looking at him.

And he _definitely_ won't turn down an invitation to sit down and stare at Soobin for just a little while longer.

Yeonjun makes himself comfortable on the floor beside Kai's chair, pretending to actively listen to the child as he spouts out the names of every other kid in his class. He's pretty certain the head teacher introduces herself at some point, but all he can think of is Soobin.

 _Soobin_.

The other man had pulled up a chair to the table they were sitting at, helping a little girl that was struggling to hold her fork properly. Eventually, the girl threw her fork on the floor and began eating her cut up strawberries with her hands, and Soobin just sighed as the little boy on his other side tossed his fork away too.

"Uncle Junie fun!"

Yeonjun is brought back to reality at the mention of his name, and looks at his nephew who is staring back at him with stars in his eyes.

"Chaerin has uncle too!" A little girl says, bits of strawberry falling from her open mouth as she ignores her teacher's plea of _"please chew with your mouth closed, Chaerin-ah"_.

"Uncle Junie _Ningning_ uncle!" Kai responds angrily, " _not_ Chaerin uncle!"

"Hueningie, Chaerin-ah has her _own_ uncle." Yeonjun ruffles the child's hair, and Kai just puffs out his cheeks in response.

" _Ningning_ Uncle Junie." He says eventually, picking up a strawberry and holding it up to Yeonjun's mouth, " _aaaahhhh!!_ ".

Yeonjun happily accepts the strawberry from his nephew, which he realizes immediately as his greatest mistake when the boy sitting on his other side holds out his own strawberry to Yeonjun as he says " _aaaahhh_ Uncle Junie!"

"I'm full, I'm sorry!" Yeonjun pats his stomach for added effect, "you can eat your own snack!"

"Uncle Junie, eat strawberry!" The little girl named Chaerin holds one up on her fork, standing up to reach across the table.

"You guys can all eat your strawberries!" Yeonjun says frantically as he witnesses at least nine other children hold their snack out to him, and he can hear the head teacher laughing from the opposite side of the room.

He quickly looks to Soobin for help, but he's only met with what seems to resemble a glare from the assistant teacher.

_Oh._

Was he _supposed_ to accept the strawberries? Did Soobin think he was being rude?

Yeonjun is suddenly hyper aware of all of his actions, not wanting to embarrass himself any further in front of the other man. He looks back at Kai, who is thankfully finishing up his snack, and makes a move to stand up from his seat on the floor.

"Throw away trash?" Kai asks Soobin, holding out his plate in front of him.

"Of course, Ningning." Soobin answers gently, and Kai is up out of his chair in seconds, making his way to the trash can. He takes off towards the sink to wash his hands, and Yeonjun turns back to Soobin, who is already looking at him with an unreadable expression. Yeonjun isn't sure he likes that look on him.

"Uhm—" Yeonjun starts, unable to look at Soobin as he speaks, "where can I find Hueningie's bag?"

Soobin points towards the door where cubbies are lined up against the wall. Yeonjun honestly had no idea which bag belonged to his nephew, as he _definitely_ had been paying attention to something— _someone_ — else the night before. Luckily, Kai had run straight over to what Yeonjun figures is his cubby and struggles to pull the bag out. Yeonjun chuckles before walking over to help, pulling it off the hook and letting Kai carry it.

"Bye Soobinnie!" Kai drops the bag almost immediately and runs to hug Soobin, who is already prepared to catch him as he trips and falls into his arms.

"Walking feet in the classroom please, Ningning." He reminds him, and Kai nods excitedly in response, "I'll see you Monday!"

Yeonjun gives a quick bow to both teachers, ignoring the pang in his chest when only the head teacher acknowledges his goodbye, but all is forgotten when he feels something hanging off of his leg. He looks down to see two eyes staring back up at him, and it's one of the little boys that had been sitting beside him at the table.

"Bye Uncle Junie!" The boy says, and suddenly Yeonjun is surrounded by kids and their strawberry covered hands and faces, a chorus of goodbyes causing him to snort despite Kai’s obvious displeasure of seeing _his_ uncle being circled by his friends like vultures.

"Bye everyone, hopefully I'll be able to visit again soon!" Yeonjun says, and he means every word.

The moment is cut short, however, when Soobin slips up beside him, grabbing the hand of a child and gently pulling them to the side, “alright everyone, let’s take our seats and finish our snack! Ningning and his uncle have to leave now!”

With the kids back at the table, Soobin finally turns around and mutters a goodbye.

It wasn't a lot, but the butterflies in Yeonjun's stomach think otherwise.

Cute boys are the _worst_.

  
  


* * *

  
  


i think hueningie’s cute teacher hates me  
**16:23**

well he can get in line :)  
**16:26**

best friend card REVOKED choi beomgyu  
**16:26**

fucking finally  
**16:27**

  
  


* * *

Taehyung is quiet at dinner, and usually Yeonjun tries to not worry about his brother, but he can tell he has been stressed lately. 

Dinner had started nicely; Kai rambled about his day and Yeonjun talked about how he seemed to be pretty popular with the rest of Kai’s class, and Taehyung seemed genuinely excited to know that Yeonjun was enjoying himself. About halfway through, Yeonjun noticed his brother had stopped listening to them entirely.

“Hyung, are you okay?” Yeonjun finally asks. Taehyung’s attention snaps back to the conversation, and Yeonjun can’t help but notice the exhaustion in his brother’s features.

“I’m fine, just been busy at work.” Taehyung reassures him. “I’m glad you like the kids— they’re a fun group. A lot of them have been in Hueningie’s class since they were infants.”

Yeonjun hums in response, and the table settles into silence. Kai begins dozing in his seat, but it goes completely unnoticed by Taehyung.

"Hyung, _please_ go get some rest, let me clean up. You look like you're ready to pass out." Yeonjun says quietly.

"No—"

"None of that!" Yeonjun raises his voice only slightly, glancing at Kai, "I know you've got a lot on your plate, hyung. Let me _help_."

Taehyung doesn't respond, but Yeonjun can tell he's thinking of something. Eventually, his brother sighs and looks at him, and Yeonjun knows he has finally caved in.

"I didn't want to ask this of you, but— but I'm _so_ busy with this project and I can’t make it to Hueningie’s daycare before it closes." He finally says, "I just need someone to pick him up before six o'clock because I can't afford the late fee."

"Of course I'll pick him up!" Yeonjun says without missing a beat, "every day! I'd be more than happy to!"

Taehyung just laughs, but he's smiling, and Yeonjun can _see_ the tension leaving his shoulders.

"It would only be for three weeks," Taehyung says, "whatever time is good, as long as it's before six. I'll be home by six-thirty."

"Before six, no late fee, got it!" Yeonjun says excitedly.

" _And_ I'll feed you."

"Oh my God, it just keeps getting better!"

Taehyung sticks his tongue out at Yeonjun like a child, but shoots him another smile from across the table and he makes a move to pick up his son, "seriously though, thank you. I really had no one else to do it."

"Any time, hyung." Yeonjun replies. "Now go put Hueningie to bed, I'll clean up here."

If Yeonjun woke up at two o'clock in the morning in a panic after coming to the sudden realization about what picking up his nephew every day for _three_ _weeks_ meant, then nobody else had to know.

  
  


* * *

  
  


And yet, when Yeonjun wakes up the next morning, he feels like he’s floating on cloud nine.

 _Three weeks_.

He gets _three whole weeks_ of picking up his nephew, which means he also gets _three whole weeks_ of trying to not embarrass himself in front of Soobin. It’s easier said than done, but Yeonjun’s certain he can make the most out of the time he has. By the end of three weeks, he's _certain_ he can woo the other man with his charm and wits.

If he can speak to him without stuttering, that is.

The weekend flies by though, in the end. Yeonjun keeps himself busy with dance practice in the morning and literal _pounds_ of homework in the evening. When Monday finally comes, he has some pep to his step, knowing that as soon as he’s done with his classes he’ll get to rush straight to his nephew.

(And Soobin, but mostly his nephew. His sweet, wonderful nephew that just so happens to have a really beautiful assistant teacher.)

And _maybe_ Yeonjun takes a step back at the thought, rubbing his eyes slightly as he spots a familiar figure step out in front of him.

It may be seven-thirty in the morning, but there’s no way he’s hallucinating that _Choi Soobin_ is physically present on the same campus as him. He stops to briefly wonder how he has never _once_ spotted him here before because he would _definitely_ notice someone like _Choi Soobin_ strutting around campus looking the way he does.

(Which is, in actuality, just a gray sweatshirt and jeans. His hair is messy underneath his hood and is definitely the result of a bad case of bedhead, but Yeonjun is endeared anyway.)

Before Yeonjun knows what he’s doing, he can hear himself call out _“Soobin-ssi!”_ , and he almost turns and runs in the opposite direction when the man turns slightly and spots him. Soobin gives him a quick nod in acknowledgement, but Yeonjun can tell by the other’s body language that he’s about to make a quick getaway and— somewhere in the back of his mind— he hears Beomgyu’s annoying voice telling him _don’t fuck up_ and stands his ground, taking a couple steps towards Soobin before he can chicken out of whatever nonsense he’s about to pull out of his ass in order to _not_ ruin this chance he has been given.

“I didn’t know you went to school here,” Yeonjun says smoothly, impressed by his own lack of stuttering.

“Oh, yeah. I do.” Soobin says quickly.

There’s a beat of silence, and Yeonjun’s inner turmoil thickens, his brain shouting ' _think of something else to say, you idiot!!_ ' while simultaneously hearing Beomgyu’s laughter somewhere behind it.

He can see Soobin is about to speak, so he rushes to beat him, “I’m glad I bumped into you! I don’t know if my brother called, but I’m going to be picking up Hueningie for the next three weeks.”

The Beomgyu in his mind just says _nailed it_.

He didn’t know what he was expecting, but Soobin just nods once again, “Alright, I’ll let them know, thank you.”

Without even sparing a glance back, Soobin retreats and leaves Yeonjun in the dust.

He can still hear Beomgyu laughing.

  
  


* * *

  
  


i hate you  
**07:56**

so much  
**07:56**

well that sounds like a you problem  
**08:23**

but out of curiosity  
**08:23**

what did i do?  
**08:23**

  
  


* * *

  
  


Yeonjun arrives at the daycare earlier than expected that afternoon, his last class of the day dismissing early. As he’s buzzed in, he spots the director at the front desk, and greets her as pleasantly as possible.

“Yeonjun-ssi! I’m glad you’re here!” She says, placing down the paperwork she was holding. “Kai’s teacher said that his classmates _love_ you, so I think you’re going to have a bit of a welcoming committee when you get down there.”

Yeonjun can’t help but genuinely smile at her words. He has only met the children a couple of times, but he could already tell that they were a fun group to be with. He was glad that Kai seemed to get along with them as well.

And it was as if the director had seen it in a vision; as soon as Yeonjun opened the classroom door, he was greeted by a choir of fourteen tiny toddlers shouting for him.

“Hi again, everyone!” He stepped in quickly, narrowly avoiding the little girl he recognized as Chaerin as she slipped between his legs and giggled. Kai was hot on her heels as he forced his way through the small crowd of his classmates and attached himself to Yeonjun’s left leg.

“Welcome back, Yeonjun-ssi!” Kai’s teacher— what was her name again?— greeted him, “we were just about to settle down for snack time, are you in a hurry to leave?”

“Not at all!” Yeonjun detaches Kai from his leg and lifts him up, “do you want to eat at school or at home?”

“School!” Kai shrieks as he accidentally kicks his uncle in the side out of excitement. Yeonjun groans slightly and places the toddler back down, watching as he runs across the classroom to join his classmates at one of the tables.

“Walking feet in the classroom please, Ningning!”

And _oh_ , there’s the voice Yeonjun had been dreaming of throughout every single one of his classes.

He looks up and sees Soobin is already sitting down with a few kids, steadying Kai as he climbs into one of the chairs. Long gone is the bedhead and sweatshirt combo; Yeonjun can feel his whole face flush at the sight of Soobin dressed in _full black_ , sans his usual pink apron. His hair was neatly brushed down, barely covering his eyes, and if Yeonjun’s being honest, he looks _really hot._

Yeonjun suddenly wishes Kai had chosen to just go _home_. He can't do this.

He drags himself over to where Kai is sitting next to Soobin and sits himself down on his knees beside him, keeping his eyes on his nephew as he waits for his snack to be served to him. 

"Uncle Junie, why your hair _yellow_?"

Yeonjun's head snaps up at the question. He can see a little boy looking directly at him, anticipating his answer, "oh, uh, I just wanted to make it _really_ bright! Does it look good?"

"No!" The little boy responds, and Yeonjun hears the head teacher burst out laughing at the child's brutal honesty. _Ouch._

"Uncle Junie!" Chaerin yells, shooting up from her seat at the table, "why have earrings?"

"Because I like them!" Yeonjun answers honestly, automatically taking the hoops between his fingers, "do you like them?"

" _Yeah_!" Chaerin says, bouncing up and down a bit. She finally sits down completely before putting on a completely serious face, "but why Uncle Junie voice sound like that?!"

To his side he hears a loud snort, and he turns to see Soobin covering his mouth with his hand. As soon as they make eye contact, Soobin turns away quickly, muttering a soft _sorry_. Yeonjun feels a bit lighter knowing that he was able to make the other laugh even a little, so he works with it and quickly says, "my voice does sound funny, doesn't it? Don't I sound like a duck?"

He quacks and the kids start laughing, demanding that Yeonjun makes other animal noises (and, not to toot his own horn, but Yeonjun is _amazing_ at impersonating animals). He can tell Soobin is trying to hold back chuckles, so he decides that two can play at that game.

"Who's better at animal noises? Me or Soobin-ssi?" Yeonjun asks the kids, and Soobin noticeably startles at the sudden question.

"Soobinnie!" Kai shouts, food falling from his mouth.

"Yeah! Soobinnie!" Another child agrees, and suddenly all the children are chanting _Soobinnie!!_ as they eat. At this point, Soobin's face is visibly red, and Yeonjun almost coos at how embarrassed the other man is.

"Of course he is! I'll never be as good as Soobin-ssi." He states matter-of-factly.

"Your animal impersonations aren't bad." Soobin says after a few seconds, face less flushed than before.

"So there's still hope for my mooing?"

"....Probably."

And that's all Yeonjun could've asked for.

  
  


* * *

  
  


Yeonjun tries to not feel disappointed when he doesn't spot Soobin on campus the following day.

He knows yesterday was probably just a fluke; that was the first time he had _ever_ seen Soobin at university. It wasn't like he was just going to start appearing _everywhere_. It's possible he just had to pick something up or had office hours, and he and Yeonjun were just doomed to never cross paths outside of the daycare ever again.

He tries to just not think about it and heads to his first class.

When Yeonjun arrives at the studio that afternoon, he spots Taehyun in the corner, absorbed in whatever he’s doing on his phone. He carelessly throws his bag against the wall and plops himself down next to him before dramatically throwing his head onto Taehyun’s outstretched legs, squeaking when his student begins to shake them in retaliation.

“Rude,” Yeonjun says as he sits up and rubs his head, “have some respect for your elders!”

“Okay grandpa.” Taehyun doesn’t look up from his phone, and Yeonjun can just barely make out _Cookie Run_ on the screen.

He scoffs and pushes his back to the wall. He _could_ stretch, or at the very least change his clothes, but it’s quiet, and Yeonjun just wants to mope about not seeing Soobin on campus in _peace_.

“Penny for your thoughts?” He hears Taehyun ask eventually. The younger has finally put his phone away, and Yeonjun realizes a couple of his other students are making their way towards the changing room.

“Just thinking about what I want for dinner tonight.” Yeonjun lies.

“Do you want to grab something after practice?” Taehyun offers, “I’ll even treat you. Respect my elders or whatever.”

Yeonjun snorts and ruffles the younger’s hair, earning himself a groan in response. “I’d _love_ to take you up on that _dear child_ , but I have to pick up my nephew after this.”

Taehyun looks lost in thought for a split second before saying, “that was a one time offer, your loss.” Yeonjun smirks, knowing that it wasn't a one time offer, as Taehyun asks him at least four times a month. The younger stands up, offering a hand out to Yeonjun and pulling him up. Yeonjun gives him a shove for good measure, and their walk to the changing room quickly becomes a shoving match that Yeonjun _knows_ he can’t win.

Curse Taehyun and his ridiculous strength.

Taehyun is already stretching by the time Yeonjun reemerges from changing, so he occupies a spot close to him and waves to the other students in the room as they greet him. The acknowledgement is enough for them, and everyone goes back to their own routines as Yeonjun begins his own.

“Hey hyung,” Taehyun asks after a couple minutes, “which daycare does your nephew go to?”

“Magic Island Daycare.” Yeonjun answers, and immediately pauses his stretching when Taehyun laughs.

“That’s such a coincidence! My friend Soobin-hyung works there!”

And Yeonjun tried to hide his gasp— _desperately_ made the attempt to not let a single noise slip past his lips— but ultimately failed, and he could feel his face heat up at Taehyun’s raised eyebrow.

“Oh, do you know him?” Taehyun’s question is laced with a hint of interest, like he _knows_ something, and suddenly his whole body is facing Yeonjun.

“Y-yeah, he’s Hueningie’s teacher.” Yeonjun says, refusing to look up from the floor. “Or, one of his teacher’s names is Soobin, there could be _multiple_ Soobins there, it might not be the same one. Lots of people have the same name, there are _lots_ of Soobins in Seoul!”

Yeonjun suddenly considers drowning himself in the shower when the words finally stop coming out of his mouth, and a quick side glance at Taehyun makes him wish for his demise to come even faster.

The little shit is _smirking_.

“You seem to know a lot about the Soobins of Seoul.” Taehyun finally says, clearly enjoying the way Yeonjun has to sit on his own word vomit, “but Soobin-hyung is the only Soobin that works there, so he’s _definitely_ your nephew’s teacher.”

“O-oh.” Yeonjun doesn’t trust himself to say anything else, but he does anyway, “he seems...very nice?”

 _And attractive. And good with kids. And really hot. And_ —

“He’s the best.” Taehyun says as he finishes stretching, “say hi to him for me when you see him tonight!”

“Wait— what?” Yeonjun nearly gives himself whiplash as he watches Taehyun skip off to speak to one of the other students, ignoring the desperate pleading look that his instructor was giving him.

Then it clicks.

_A conversation starter._

Yeonjun will treat Taehyun to dinner one day.

Yeonjun makes it to the daycare by five-fifty, thanking the heavens that he's capable of running.

He peeks into Kai's classroom and spots him with four other kids, and of course— _Soobin_. Soobin, who is dressed in a white button down shirt with his cute pink apron (that Yeonjun is _really_ starting to love, he can't help it). He looks down at his disaster of an outfit, knowing that he looks like he just ran a marathon— probably _smells_ like he just ran a marathon— and groans. He would just have to stay as far from Soobin as possible.

He pushes the door open, causing all the kids to turn and face him, and suddenly they're no longer on the carpet and attached to both his legs.

"Good evening, welcoming committee!" Yeonjun laughs, instantly forgetting about his previous worries. He sees Kai pulling on another child's sleeve, so he picks him up in one swift motion, "be _nice_ , Hueningie."

Kai just pouts and wraps his arms around Yeonjun's neck, and he wants to _melt_.

"He was a bit tired today, but other than that, he had a great day."

Soobin is suddenly standing directly in front of him, holding Kai's bag out in his hand. It takes a second for Yeonjun's brain to process what's happening— Soobin is _so close_ to him that Yeonjun has to physically look up to make eye contact— but he quickly snaps back to reality, grabbing the bag and backing up slightly. However, it's made quite difficult with the weight of four children attached to his legs, and they all laugh when Yeonjun stumbles.

"T-thank you!" Yeonjun says, hoping that Soobin can't sense his distress as his previous concerns come flooding back to him. He should’ve taken the chance to break a world record for the world’s fastest shower.

"Soobinnie, hug!" Kai suddenly cries, fighting his way out of Yeonjun's arms and grabbing onto Soobin's legs, drawing a chuckle from his teacher.

"See you tomorrow, Ningning!" Soobin says, immediately enveloping Kai in a hug, "sleep well tonight!"

Kai just nods and extends his arms out, waiting for Yeonjun to pick him up. He obliges without question, and Kai rests his head on his shoulder, seemingly ready to fall asleep at the drop of a dime.

"Unfortunately, we need to leave, but I'll be back to visit tomorrow!" Yeonjun looks down at the kids on his legs, and notes the four sad faces looking back up at him. He genuinely feels bad, but he needs to get Kai home before Taehyung gets there first.

"Let's go everyone, we can read a book!" Soobin says excitedly, and suddenly the children are on the carpet, eagerly awaiting their teacher to join them.

"They're quick." Yeonjun laughs, watching the children argue about which book Soobin should read them. The latter just hums in response to Yeonjun's statement.

Yeonjun was about to leave, but he suddenly heard Taehyun's voice in the back of his mind: _Say hi to him for me when you see him tonight!_

"S-Soobin-ssi!" Yeonjun internally curses at himself for faltering. Soobin stops midstep, turning to look at Yeonjun.

"My student, uh, friend, Kang Taehyun? He told me to say hi when I picked up tonight, so— hi?" Yeonjun trips over his words, "yeah, that's all he wanted me to say!"

He can see Soobin processing his words, and he feels unbelievably _stupid_ using that as an excuse to talk to him for just a little longer. Something must eventually click for Soobin though, because he looks absolutely _exasperated._

"I… text him every day… whatever. Thanks for the message, I'll talk to him later."

Yeonjun wants to slap himself in the face.

_You idiot._

  
  


* * *

  
  


Yeonjun would’ve considered it a blessing in disguise when he sees Soobin walking around on campus the following morning. Keyword: _would’ve._

As soon as Soobin sees him, he books it in the opposite direction. No greeting, no acknowledgment.

Although, Yeonjun figures fleeing _is_ an acknowledgement; an acknowledgement meaning that Soobin _definitely_ does not like him. Why else would he run away just at the sight of him?

And with that finally confirmed, his mood sours.

He tries to not think about it when he arrives at the daycare that afternoon. He glances at Soobin, who is busy cleaning up a mess from a clogged sink, before sitting down next to Kai as he eats like he hasn’t eaten in three days. Yeonjun personally doesn’t see the appeal of plain yogurt. It’s kind of gross.

“What Uncle Junie work?” A child— who Yeonjun now knows as Jiyoon— asks. He picks up a napkin and carefully wipes the yogurt from her chin.

“What do I do for work? I dance!” He says proudly, and he hears the class gasp.

“Dance please!” Jiyoon yells, spitting yogurt across the table.

“Please don’t speak with food in your mouth, Jiyoon-ah.” The head teacher reminds her. Jiyoon uses her sleeve to wipe her face, but only succeeds in spreading it across her cheek.

“I can’t dance right now, but I _promise_ I’ll dance for you another time!” Yeonjun says.

“Sing songs!” Kai suddenly says and grabs his arm, “Baby Shark!”

And how can Yeonjun say no to the loud screeches of tiny toddlers who believe that Baby Shark is the Republic of Korea’s national anthem? He looks to the head teacher, who just nods her head and urges him on. So, he sings, and when he’s finished he receives a round of applause from the Baby Shark Toddler Cult. He bows with a smile on his face, “thank you, everyone!”

“Uncle Junie sing like Soobinnie!” A boy named Sunghoon says.

“Yeah! Good!” The boy next to him agrees immediately.

Yeonjun takes another look at Soobin, who has _finally_ fished whatever toy was stuck down the drain before saying, “Hueningie always tells me I don’t sing as well as Soobinnie.”

He wasn’t lying— Kai loved it when Yeonjun sang for him, but recently, he didn’t fail to remind him that he would _never_ sing as well as Soobin does. Yeonjun would be offended, but now he just dreams of the day where he might get to hear the other man sing.

Who could blame him?

He can see Soobin eyeing him from where he’s wiping up the floor, his ears glowing.

“I— I can sing well enough to meet a child’s standards.” He says quietly, and the head teacher laughs out loud.

“Ignore him, Yeonjun-ssi. Soobin is an _excellent_ singer.” She says, “he’s just shy.”

Soobin’s face is _so_ red at this point that Yeonjun can’t even pretend that he’s still upset about what happened that morning. He has almost completely forgotten about it, and it completely vanishes from his mind as Kai shouts something about going home. They make their way to the door, but right on cue, Kai turns around and dashes for Soobin.

“Have a good night, Ningning,” Soobin says, giving the child a hug.

“Oh, and Yeonjun-ssi,” he continues, and Yeonjun thinks he just gave himself whiplash with the way his head turned at the speed of light, “thank you for singing for the kids. They really enjoyed it.”

Yeonjun is speechless for a few seconds, and Soobin looks at him expectantly. His brain, however, can’t find the right words, and in the end he just fumbles, “y-yeah of course. All the—ANY time, any time!”

But Soobin cracks a small smile, and Yeonjun counts it as a win.

  
  


* * *

  
  


It’s _pouring_ when Yeonjun leaves his apartment the following morning, and he wishes that universities would just shut down when it rains literal _buckets_.

He’s soaked by the time he reaches the campus library— the main reason being that his umbrella is tiny as _shit_ , and its sole purpose had been to keep his backpack dry. He shakes out his hair at the entrance and groans. He knows he’s going to have to change into his spare clothes he had brought for work, but he’d worry about that _after_ he printed out his latest bs’d essay.

“Good morning, Yeonjun-ssi.”

Yeonjun freezes in his spot, knowing that voice oh-so-well. And of course, looking up from underneath his wet fringe, he can see no one other than Soobin standing in front of him. Soobin, in all of his wonderful and completely dry glory.

Then there’s Yeonjun, looking like a drowned animal.

Another loss for Choi Yeonjun.

“G-Good morning!” He backs up a bit, making room for Soobin to enter the library. The other man opens the door and holds it open, eyeing Yeonjun as the blonde just stands there, still completely frozen to his spot.

“Are you not going in?” Soobin asks.

“Oh, yeah, _yes_ , thank you!” Yeonjun can hear his own voice shoot up two octaves as he answers, and he books it into the library. Soobin follows slowly, carefully shutting the door behind him, and watches as Yeonjun sets his backpack down to investigate any damage done.

“Uh, what are you doing here so early?” Yeonjun asks, hoping to keep up a somewhat normal conversation with the other, even if only for a minute. He’s fine with a minute; thirty seconds would be a record for him.

“I’m getting notes from Taehyun-ah.” Soobin says, glancing around the library.

And as if he was summoned, both men spot Taehyun walking towards them, waving his hands to get their attention. He’s holding a folder— probably the notes— and looks between the two of them as he hands it over Soobin.

“Did you guys come here together?” He inquires with interest, and flinches when both of them squeak out a _no_.

“We met at the door.” Soobin says, slipping the folder under his arm. His cheeks are tinted red, but Yeonjun can’t tell if it’s because he’s upset that Taehyun was assuming they were visiting the library together, or if it’s just the red walls of the building reflecting off of Soobin’s (flawless) skin.

Yeonjun _knows_ that there’s a one hundred percent chance that he’s going to embarrass himself in front of Taehyun _and_ Soobin if he sticks around any longer though, so he stands up and slips his arms through the straps of his backpack, preparing to excuse himself as quickly as possible.

However, Taehyun had other plans for him.

“Yeonjun-hyung!” He says excitedly, slipping his arm through Yeonjun’s, “I’m excited for practice today!”

“I’m... glad?” Yeonjun mumbles. What the _hell_ was Taehyun up to?

“Soobin-hyung, did you know Yeonjun is an _amazing_ dancer?”

Suddenly, it clicks.

Yeonjun wants to _die_ ; Taehyun fucking _knows_. His life is coming to an end and it’s because _Kang Taehyun_ , his number one dance student and good friend, knows that he has the biggest goddamn crush on his nephew’s gorgeous assistant teacher. Not to mention that that gorgeous assistant teacher is _also_ Taehyun’s best friend.

He should’ve known by the way Taehyun questioned him before about where Kai went to daycare. He should’ve seen it coming; It was his own fault for not realizing it and walking straight into Taehyun’s little trap. He deserves whatever’s coming to him now.

“He can sing too!” Taehyun continues, and Yeonjun is too flustered to even pull his arm away. He refuses to look at Soobin, and suddenly thinks the librarian is the most interesting person in the room.

“Oh yeah, he sang for my class yesterday.” Soobin says, and Yeonjun has had enough. He pulls his arm away from Taehyun, quickly sputtering out some sort of nonsense words that might’ve come together to mean _I need to go print out my paper, see you later,_ and takes off towards the computer lab.

His heart feels like it’s about to beat out of his chest, but at least he made it more than a minute.

(When he arrives at the dance studio later, Taehyun is already there with a shit-eating grin plastered on his face. Yeonjun automatically puts his student in a somewhat-playful chokehold, but Taehyun has the _audacity_ to just keep laughing.

“You should be thanking me for hyping you up in front of your _crush_ , hyung.”

Yeonjun takes him down to the floor. Nobody asks questions.)

Yeonjun was running _so late_.

Not only had practice run over, Hoseok had refused to let him leave; Yeonjun doesn’t even remember what he had wanted to talk to him about because the whole time he was just thinking _Taehyung is going to_ kill _me._

His legs are burning, but he makes it to the daycare at five fifty-eight. He’s sweating and hasn’t changed from practice, but he doesn’t even care this time. He just wants to get Kai and _go home_. He’s so close he can hear Kai’s laugh from outside the daycare.

Wait. What?

Yeonjun looks at the stairs leading up to the entrance, and he’s surprised to see Kai sitting outside on the steps, laughing so hard he’s crying. He’s popping bubbles with his nose, and of course, to Yeonjun’s luck, Soobin is the one blowing bubbles.

He wants to admire the scene in front of him; it’s not very often he gets to see Kai like this, even with the amount of time the two of them have been spending together. At the same time, this is the only time he has ever seen Soobin seem so carefree— his smile is so big that it’s almost blinding, and his laughter is music to Yeonjun’s ears.

But, you know, he has two minutes to collect Kai before he loses a whole paycheck to an easily-avoided late fee.

“Hueningie!” Yeonjun waves to his nephew, whose eyes light up at the sight of his uncle, and he rushes down the stairs to greet him.

“I’m sorry I’m late,” he says, partially to Kai, but mostly to Soobin. Kai was definitely the last child there, and Soobin probably could’ve left by now if he had been there half an hour ago.

“You’re not late.” Soobin assures him, closing up the bubbles, “it isn’t six, so you’re spared the late fee.”

He had known that already, but hearing it directly from Soobin took the weight off of his shoulders.

“But before you leave,” he says suddenly, handing a piece of paper to Yeonjun, “can you please give this to his father? It’s a permission slip for a field trip.”

Yeonjun stares at the paper, and he can’t help but snort when he sees the field trip destination.

“The park across the street?” His eyes make their way to the location of interest.

“We just need permission to take them off premises,” Soobin explains, “also, it’s his father’s turn to chaperone, so we need to know if he’s able to attend or not.”

Yeonjun knows that Taehyung is definitely _not_ going to be able to attend— he wants to tell Soobin that right now, but an idea sparks in his mind suddenly, so he keeps quiet.

“I’ll let him know!” Yeonjun says with newfound enthusiasm, and Soobin visibly flinches at the raise in tone.

“Oh, okay, thank you?”

As Kai gives Soobin his daily goodbye hug, Yeonjun is already plotting.

“So,” Taehyung stares across the table at Yeonjun, who looks like a child on Christmas morning, “you want to include my son in one of your ploys to get out of studying again?”

“You make me sound like a terrible student, hyung.”

“You _cannot_ skip your classes to chaperone a daycare field trip.”

“It’s one day!” Yeonjun groans, “just let me fill in for you! You can’t do it, so why can’t I?”

“First off, I don’t think they’d even allow it,” Taehyung says, and Yeonjun can’t help but frown, “Secondly, you’re in your last year of university, you shouldn’t be skipping classes.”

“ _You shouldn’t be skipping classes_ ,” Yeonjun repeats back mockingly, “says the one whose GPA was _trash_ because of his attendance.”

Taehyung looks like he’s about to argue back, but he grunts and crosses his arms defeatedly. “Okay, no arguments there.”

“Like I said, it’s just _one day_. I have no exams or assignments due that day! Come on, I really like Hueningie’s class, just ask them please!” Yeonjun argues, conveniently leaving out that he also _really likes_ Kai’s teacher. Taehyung doesn’t have to know.

He can tell Taehyung is going to give in, but he turns to Kai anyway, just to nail one final blow, “Hueningie, wouldn’t it be fun for Uncle Junie to go with you to the park?”

“Park? Let’s go Uncle Junie!” Kai yells, flailing his arms and knocking his bowl onto the floor.

Taehyung just sighs, moving to clean up the mess.

“Why do I feel like I parent _two_ toddlers?”

  
  


* * *

  
  


Yeonjun has never seen Kai genuinely angry before.

He has seen his fair share of his nephew’s temper tantrums— usually Kai just looks _so cute_ while he’s whining that Yeonjun just smiles and lets him do his business. Toddlers will be toddlers, anyway.

But today as Yeonjun enters the classroom, Kai is the only child that doesn’t run to meet him at the door. He doesn’t even look back at him as he stomps over to Soobin’s side and hugs his leg, the teacher looking down at him in confusion.

“What’s wrong, Ningning?” Soobin asks gently, and Kai just pouts. Yeonjun notes that he looks like he’s about to cry, so he quickly makes his way through the hoard of toddlers and bends down to his nephew’s eye level.

“Are you mad at me, Hueningie?”

Kai nods, gripping Soobin’s leg tighter.

“Uncle Junie missed snack today, didn’t he?”

Kai nods once again, and a single stray tear rolls down his cheek. Oh _God_ , Yeonjun successfully made his nephew _cry_. He feels like a terrible person— _knows_ he's a terrible person.

“I’m sorry I didn’t get to eat with you,” Yeonjun holds his hands out to Kai, and the toddler hesitates before grabbing them, “Uncle Junie had to talk to someone so that I can go to the park with you!”

And like magic, the anger is completely gone.

“Park?!” Kai shrieks, jumping up to throw his arms around Yeonjun’s neck.

“Yes, I get to go with your class to the park!” Yeonjun says just as excitedly, taking Kai into his arms and standing up. He doesn’t miss the way Soobin’s eyes widen though, and his expression is unreadable.

“That’s great, Yeonjun-ssi!” The head teacher— whatever her name is— pats Yeonjun’s shoulder, “it’ll be nice for Soobin-ah to have someone closer to his age with us!”

“H-huh?” Soobin sputters.

“You’re always with the kids and us older ladies,” she says, giving him a pointed look, “it’s about time you hung around with someone closer to your age, even for a short while!”

Soobin’s ears are red, and he mutters something under his breath about how he has friends, and Taehyun is _only_ two years younger than him, but it falls on deaf ears.

“Uh, don’t worry, Soobin-ssi,” Yeonjun says carefully, “I, uh, won’t—”

“No! No. It’s fine. It’ll be… fun?” Soobin says.

Yeonjun certainly hopes so.

(Later that night while Yeonjun is lying in bed, he realizes two things:

One: he made no progress with Soobin over the course of the first week of pickup duty. He is ashamed of himself.

And two: there's only _two_ weeks left until pickup duty is complete. Coincidentally, his last day is _also_ the day of the field trip, meaning he has to make the absolute most of the time he has left.

He was _fucked_.)

  
  


* * *

  
  


_D-11_

He hadn’t meant it, but Yeonjun physically _bumps_ into Soobin on campus that Monday. He tries to apologize, his words getting completely mangled in the process, but Soobin is already halfway across the courtyard by the time Yeonjun can even get a full, proper sentence out.

He apologizes while sitting down for snack time with Kai’s class that afternoon, but Soobin just stares at him.

“That was you?” He asks, his thinking face, oddly enough, giving Yeonjun butterflies, “sorry, I was in a rush.”

And Yeonjun wanted to say _no, it was my fault for running to class with my eyes half closed because I overslept and the sun was too bright and I honestly don’t even know who the hell runs with their eyes closed because I’m a fucking moron_ _who needs to buy sunglasses_ , but holds off because, firstly, he was in a classroom with toddlers, and secondly, Soobin was obviously done with the conversation by the way he was dealing with Soeun chucking her water cup across the classroom.

When Yeonjun sees Jimin gearing up to throw hers, he and Kai officially say goodbye before they get caught in the middle of the water fight.

_D-10_

Yeonjun knew he shouldn’t have been surprised when Taehyun asked if he could go with him to pick up Kai.

Yeonjun wants to say _fuck no_ ; he does _not_ want Taehyun embarrassing him in front of Soobin— he’s already perfectly good at doing that all on his own. But he’s already running late, and if he’s lucky he’ll make it to the center right at six, so he lets Taehyun tag along.

He regrets it, though, because as soon as they make it to the daycare, it’s _exactly_ six, and Soobin is sitting outside on the steps with Kai once again. They’re singing songs, and Yeonjun wishes Taehyun would stop fucking _laughing_ at his obvious misery.

Soobin immediately stops when he hears Taehyun’s laugh, jumping up from his seated position on the step. Kai is just clapping along to nothing now, but Yeonjun’s glad he’s having a good time anyway.

“What are you doing here, Taehyun-ah?” Soobin asks suspiciously.

“I just wanted to say hi!” Taehyun says, waving to him from the bottom of the stairs, “let’s walk home together!”

“You’re just trying to get free food out of me.”

Taehyun clutches his chest, an over dramatic gasp falling from between his lips, “I would _never!_ ”

Yeonjun can’t help that laugh he lets out as he turns to Taehyun, “is this why you always want me to eat with you? Were you trying to con me?"

“Only, like, once.” Taehyun replies honestly, “I have no reason to make you pay, you’re my teacher. Soobin-hyung, on the other hand…”

“I forgot my wallet _once_.” Yeonjun can hear Soobin mumble. He watches as he grabs Kai’s bag from the steps before taking the toddler’s hand and helping him down the stairs.

“Here’s his stuff,” Soobin hands him the bag quickly, and Kai makes quick work of trying to climb up Yeonjun’s leg, “there’s a bag of wet clothes in there, he took the top off of his water bottle and dumped it all over himself.”

Yeonjun just nods, unable to form words now that Soobin is finally having a direct conversation with him. He can see Taehyun smirking out of the corner of his eye, and he wants to kick him _so badly_.

“So _obinnie hug!"_ Yeonjun can’t react fast enough before Kai flings himself out of his arms and falls straight onto the sidewalk, and suddenly it’s like the _whole world_ is ending with the way the toddler begins to scream.

“Oh my God, Hueningie, are you okay?” Yeonjun panics and crouches down to pick him up, but Kai is kicking too much for him to get anywhere close.

“ _No!_ ” Kai cries, “ _booboo!_ ”

“Do you need an ice pack?” Soobin asks calmly, obviously used to these mishaps.

“ _N_ _O!_ ” He cries louder.

“A bandaid?”

_“NO!”_

“A sticker?”

“ _NO!_ ”

“A hug?” Soobin finally asks, opening his arms for Kai. The toddler stops crying at that, and stands up to give Soobin a hug before turning back to Yeonjun and giving him one too.

There’s complete silence until Taehyun starts to laugh.

“Oh man, toddlers, am I right?”

_D-9_

“Uncle Junie married?”

Yeonjun fights back the urge to choke, but he ends up letting out some sort of mix between a snort and cough in the end. The question was so innocent, and Yeonjun was pretty certain there were actual stars in Jimin’s eyes as she stared at him.

“I’m not, Jiminnie.”

“ _Oh._ " She says, “why?”

“I’m still in school!” Yeonjun answers, “I need to be all done with school.”

“ _Oh._ ” She says again, “why?”

Before Yeonjun can answer her question, the head teacher speaks up first, “are you seeing someone, Yeonjun-ssi?”

He finally chokes.

He glances at Soobin, who is showing zero interest in the conversation. Would he get it if he dropped hints? It was worth a shot.

“No, I’m not.” Yeonjun answers.

“Oh dear, how is someone with your face still single?” She says, huffing. “Soobinnie is single too, isn’t _that_ hard to believe?”

Yeonjun’s certain that Soobin almost snapped his own neck with the way he swung around.

“You can’t just say things like that!” Soobin full on _whines_.

“Soobinnie single.” Sunghoon repeats.

“Sunghoon-ah, _please_.”

The head teacher laughs, but continues to drill into Soobin’s love life anyway, and Yeonjun prepares to file the information somewhere in the back of his mind as she speaks, “you spend too much time here! Aren’t there any potential partners at school?”

Soobin doesn’t answer the question, instead groaning and looking at the floor, suddenly interested in cleaning up the cheese stick Chaerin had thrown there ten minutes prior.

“Yeonjun-ssi, you should introduce Soobinnie to someone! He mentioned you guys go to the same university.” The head teacher says, oblivious to the way Yeonjun’s ears automatically perk up at her words. 

Soobin _talks_ about him? With other people?

New information. _Good_ information. He can work with that.

_D-8_

Dance practice lets out early, but Yeonjun is still amazed when he reaches the daycare at five o’clock.

He finds Kai playing with baby dolls with a few other kids, Soobin watching from across the room as he hangs up artwork. In any other world, there would be _nothing_ attractive about watching a man pull a stapler out of his apron pocket, but Yeonjun might be a little biased.

Kai notices him immediately through the window, and throws the doll on the floor, screaming _Uncle Junie!_ so loudly that Yeonjun can hear him through the door. It alarms Soobin, who is standing on a chair that is _definitely_ too small for someone of his height to be standing on, and as he turns to see what the ruckus is, misplaces his foot and topples to the floor.

“Soobinnie okay?” Kai stopped to ask as Yeonjun threw the door open, much to the surprise of the teacher sitting slightly dazed on the floor.

“Are you okay?!” Yeonjun asked worriedly, extending his hand out to help Soobin up. Soobin did nothing but stare at it for a couple seconds before jumping up from where he had fallen and brushing himself off.

“I’m okay! I’m fine! Thank you!” Soobin assures him.

“Are— are you sure? That was a hard fa—”

“I’m okay, really!” Soobin avoided looking at him, clearly somewhat embarrassed by the fact that he _fell_ right in front of a child’s guardian.

Yeonjun watched as he gave Kai a goodbye hug, and could see that his leg was bothering him as he moved to stand up again. Soobin turned to him, a little flustered, and gave him a quick rundown of Kai’s day.

As they left, Yeonjun made a mental note to ask Soobin how he was doing the next day.

What better way to someone’s heart than to show you care, right?

Right.

_D-7_

Kai is sitting in cozy corner when Yeonjun arrives.

He’s hugging a pillow to his chest and sniffling, and the whole scene makes Yeonjun’s heart hurt. Before he can ask what happened, the head teacher offers up an explanation.

“He refused to take a nap today, so now he’s _a little_ grumpy.” She said, helping Jimin into her chair, “he’s calming his body before snack.”

Yeonjun makes his way over to his nephew, who is staring at him with sad eyes.

“Why didn’t you sleep today?” He asks gently, picking Kai up. The toddler rests his head on Yeonjun’s shoulder, but doesn’t answer the question.

“Soobin-ah isn’t here today,” the head teacher says, “he usually sits with Kai until he falls asleep.”

Yeonjun glanced around the classroom; he hadn’t even noticed that Soobin wasn’t there. There was a different teacher present, and Yeonjun thinks back to the previous night.

“Is Soobin-ssi okay?” Yeonjun asks.

“He fell down here last night and is a little sore, so we made him take a day off.” The woman tells him and chuckles, “he works so much that we figured he could use a three day weekend to rest.”

Yeonjun is relieved to know that Soobin is okay— he knew that the fall was worse than Soobin had let on. If anyone deserved some time to rest, it was him.

Kai opts to just leave instead of eating snack with the rest of the class, the exhaustion from a long day with no nap too much for his small body to handle.

Yeonjun thanks both teachers before they leave and prepares himself for his own long weekend of homework and practice.

_D-4_

Yeonjun doesn’t see Soobin on campus that Monday, but he’s at the daycare when he arrives to pick up Kai.

The children are hanging off of Soobin, and Yeonjun can’t help but smile. The teacher looks _so_ excited to be back in his classroom, and the kids obviously missed him a lot. Kai didn’t even notice Yeonjun come in, too caught up pulling on Soobin’s belt loops to care about his uncle.

“Hueningie, did you nap today?” Yeonjun speaks up, alerting his nephew of his presence. The toddler’s eyes light up, and he lets go of Soobin to run into his uncle’s arms.

“Yes!” He says, pointing to Soobin, “Soobinnie here!”

Yeonjun ruffles his hair before looking up at Soobin, “how, uh, how are you feeling?”

“Fine! I’m okay.” Soobin says, not meeting his eyes.

“Oh, that’s good then!” Yeonjun says, and Soobin just nods in agreement, ending the conversation before it could go on any longer.

They don’t speak to each other through the entirety of snack, but Yeonjun can’t stop himself from sneaking peeks at him. Soobin looks fine, but Yeonjun can’t help it— he’s a worrier. Eventually he and Kai leave, and Soobin pays him no mind as he gives Kai his daily hug.

God damn it.

_D-3_

“Uncle Junie give Soobinnie hug!” Kai squeals, startling Chaerin’s parents as they leave the classroom with their daughter in tow. She screeches _bye Uncle Junie!_ as she leaves, but it goes completely unnoticed by him.

Yeonjun can feel his whole face heat up at Kai’s words, and a quick glance at Soobin reveals that he, too, is thrown off by the sudden request. They were on their way out; Kai had just given Soobin his goodbye hug. Yeonjun was perfectly okay with his and Soobin’s interactions tonight too— Soobin was more talkative than the day before, and had even looked him in the eyes when he recounted Kai’s day. It was _more_ than enough for Yeonjun. It was almost six o’clock and he was _beat_. He really just wanted to get Kai home so that he could lay on his brother’s couch while Kai watched television.

But, toddlers are whimsical little creatures, and they love to force their uncles into unwarranted situations.

“I, uh, I’m okay Hueningie,” Yeonjun says quickly, “I’m sure _Soobinnie_ is tired and wants to go home, so we should leave—”

“ _No_!” Kai stomps his foot, crossing his arms.

“Hueningie, it’s time to go home.”

“ _No_!”

Kai proceeds to sit on the floor, shaking his head and refusing to move. Yeonjun thanks whichever deity is out there for Kai being the last child in the classroom, because he had _no_ idea how to get out of their current predicament.

“Ningning, Soobinnie has to clean the classroom, and you need to go eat dinner.” Soobin says, bending down to meet the toddler’s eyes, “I’ll see you tomorrow, okay?”

“ _No_!” Kai repeats, “ _hug_!”

Soobin sighs in defeat, looking up to Yeonjun from his spot on the floor. Yeonjun is hyper aware of everything around him now, but he still can’t bring himself to look away.

The teacher puts up his pointer finger, quickly mouthing _one hug?_ with a slight shrug, and Yeonjun is pretty certain his whole mind shut down in the process of reading Soobin’s lips.

 _Choi Soobin_ is asking to _hug him_.

Holy shit.

Yeonjun is _so glad_ he took the time to shower after work today or else he would’ve actually started crying in the middle of Kai’s classroom.

It’s then that he realized that he waited too long to answer Soobin, because the other man stands up and quickly says, “sorry, bad idea, I just thought—”

“No! No, it’s okay, l-let’s do that,” Yeonjun interrupts him.

They go to hug and awkwardly bump into each other. It’s quick, but oh so painful for Yeonjun’s pounding heart. Kai doesn’t pick up on the awkwardness, though, and the hug seems to be enough for him. He stands up and waits for Yeonjun to pick him up, which he does as quickly as possible to avoid looking back at Soobin for at least a couple of seconds as he settles Kai in his arms.

“Uh, I’ll see you tomorrow?” Yeonjun says, flustered. Soobin isn’t any better off— he’s so red he might actually put Yeonjun’s blush to shame. The teacher just nods his head and mumbles a quick _see you_ before he turns around and rushes to take the trash out.

When Yeonjun steps out of the center, he puts Kai down and crouches down, yelling into his hands.

Kai cackles, “Uncle Junie so funny!”

_D-2_

It’s awkward the next day.

It’s not even just awkward on Yeonjun’s side— Soobin hasn’t been able to look him in the eyes since the moment he walked into the classroom.

“Yeonjun-ssi, are you not feeling well?” The head teacher asks worriedly, “your face is so red, are you running a temp?”

Yeonjun quickly shakes his head, waving his hands in the air, “no! I’m fine! Just, uh, it’s just feeling a little warm in here today!”

She takes it as an acceptable answer, nodding her head as she says, “Soobin-ah said the same thing, I just don’t feel it though? Must be a boy thing.”

When Yeonjun and Kai are on their way out the door, Kai pulls him back into the room, “forgot! Hug!”

“You gave me a hug already, Ningning.” Soobin says, picking up a crying Soeun out of her chair. His face twisted into obvious disgust when he got a whiff of exactly _why_ she was crying.

“No! Uncle Junie hug!”

Oh _God._

Yeonjun doesn’t think his heart could take another hug from Soobin. He can’t do it, especially not with the way the head teacher— _please_ let him remember her name one day— was eyeing them from across the room.

He’s just about to tell Kai that they have to leave, but Soobin beats him to it, “Ningning, I have to change Soeun-ah, I’ll see you guys tomorrow!”

Yeonjun thanks the heavens for Park Soeun’s diaper before accidentally thanking both teachers for a second time and nearly running out the door with Kai in tow.

He was going to lose his mind.

_D-1_

"Penny for your thoughts?"

Yeonjun is laying face down on the practice room floor, his head resting on his sweatshirt. He recognizes the voice as Taehyun, so he turns his head just enough to glare at his student.

He has a fleeting thought, though, and before he can stop himself, he asks "does Soobin-ssi _hate me?_ "

He half expects Taehyun to roll his eyes and tell him to quit being dramatic, or even for him to start listing every single God damn reason Soobin can't stand him. But instead, the younger throws his head back and barks out the loudest laugh Yeonjun has ever heard in his life.

"O-oh man, I'm sorry." Taehyun says after a bit, wiping tears from his eyes as Yeonjun stares at him from the floor.

_What the fuck._

"Why would you think Soobin-hyung _hates_ you?"

Yeonjun rushes to get into a sitting position, flustered by Taehyun's question. "He won't even _look_ at me! And if he does, it's always like— I don't even know how to explain it! One day he speaks to me just fine, but then he won't even acknowledge me, other days he just glares at me! One time he saw me and ran away! I have no idea what I did wrong!"

He takes a breath and crosses his arms, a pout forming on his face. He can feel Taehyun's eyes on him, and suddenly he regrets saying anything at all.

Without a word, Taehyun sits down beside him and brings his hand up, harshly slapping Yeonjun on the back.

"What the _hell,_ Kang Taehyun!"

"Oh hyung," Taehyun begins, throwing his arm around Yeonjun's shoulders as he speaks, "You're an idiot."

Yeonjun shoves Taehyun off of him as the younger laughs once more and attaches himself back to Yeonjun's side. He wears a shit-eating grin, and Yeonjun wants to smack it right off of his incredibly handsome face.

"No, seriously, you really think Soobin-hyung hates you?" Taehyun finally asks.

"He hasn't given me a reason to think otherwise!" Yeonjun says. Every time he thinks he's getting somewhere with Soobin, they take another two steps back.

He takes a quick glance at Taehyun, who looks deep in thought. Finally the younger groans, bringing his hands up to massage his temples, "Soobin-hyung is also an idiot."

Yeonjun wants to scoff, because as much as his nonexistent relationship with his nephew's incredibly cute assistant teacher bugs him, he believes Soobin is anything _but_ an idiot. Maybe dense— definitely oblivious— but definitely not an _idiot_.

He's quickly pulled from his thoughts as Taehyun continues to speak, "look, I probably shouldn't be telling you this, but this has been going on for too long."

 _Shit,_ Yeonjun thinks, _this is gonna be_ bad.

"Soobin-hyung has, like, a _major_ crush on you hyung."

Yeonjun was prepared to fight back— for what exactly? He didn’t know. So there he was, his mouth hanging open, ready to throw back right at Taehyun, but suddenly those words registered in his mind, and he froze.

Well, that certainly hadn't been what Yeonjun was expecting to hear.

"Wait... _w-what?"_

Taehyun snorts at Yeonjun's sputtering and spins his whole body around to face him, "it's ridiculous, honestly. He doesn’t shut up about you _._ It's becoming exhausting."

Yeonjun is pretty certain he can feel every nerve in his body short-circuiting. He's also pretty certain that Taehyun _knows_ that it's happening.

"T-there's _no way,_ " Yeonjun finally says, bringing his hands up to his cheeks. Oh yeah, they're _definitely_ burning up under his fingertips. "I'm always a fucking _mess_ whenever I'm in front of him, but he's always just—" Yeonjun breaks out his best poker face for effect "—and goes about his business!"

"Okay? And then he gets out of work and texts me every single fucking day saying, _oh my god Taehyunnie, he was here again today!_ with multiple heart emojis like you haven't been there every day for almost three weeks now."

Yeonjun doesn't even know how to _begin_ to process that information. He spends a few seconds trying to convince himself that Taehyun is just trying to rile him up— maybe play a prank on him for turning down so many dinner invites. But Yeonjun _knows_ Taehyun would never do that. Taehyun would just kick his ass, he has no need to drag Yeonjun's very big and very _obvious_ crush on Taehyun's best friend into it.

 _Oh shit,_ _Soobin_ likes _me._

"Hyung, I know you're having a crisis, but practice starts soon and I need to know if you're going to ask him out before I'm finally forced to block his number. Do you know how long I’ve had to hear about how your nephew made you two _hug_? I’m going to throw up."

"Can you— can you give me just one second?"

Before Taehyun can reply, Yeonjun is back to being face first in his sweatshirt, still laying on the practice room floor.

He screams.

  
  


* * *

  
  


WHY DIDNT YOU TELL ME BEFORE?  
**00:43**

why are you texting me? you never text me?  
**00:43**

you never asked  
**00:43**

I COULD'VE AVOIDED ALL OF THESE PROBLEMS IF YOU HAD JUST TOLD ME HE LIKED ME?  
**00:44**

oh my god  
**00:44**

wait  
**00:44**

you didn't tell him i liked him did you?  
**00:44**

TAEHYUN PLEASE ANSWER THIS IS SERIOUS  
**00:46**

i didn’t tell him  
**00:46**

soobin-hyung just thinks you're terrified of him  
**00:46**

please fix that so i don't have to hear about it anymore  
**00:46**

WHY WOULD I BE TERRIFIED OF HIM? HE'S HOT?  
**00:46**

why are you telling me this? it's almost 1am?  
**00:47**

stop texting me i'm going to bed  
**00:47**

goodnight hyung good luck break a leg!!  
**00:47**

TAEHYUN-AH WAIT NO COME BACK  
**00:47**

PLEASE  
**00:48**

:-(  
**00:49**

ok goodnight :-(  
**00:50**

WAIT TAEHYUN-AH TELL ME HOW TO FIX IT  
**01:17**

  
  


* * *

  
  


_D-DAY_

Yeonjun would be lying if he said he wasn't about to piss himself out of nervousness. Or projectile vomit. Either one would be embarrassing, but he’s not really thinking about that right now.

He barely got a wink of sleep that night; all he could think about was how Soobin— _The Choi Soobin_ — the object of Yeonjun's overflowing love and affection, actually likes him back.

Soobin _likes_ him.

Did he miss the signs? Apparently, Soobin was _much_ better at hiding it than Yeonjun is. He thought he was really obvious about his crush, considering he couldn't hold a proper conversation with him at all. But, is that why Soobin thought he was scared of him? Oh _God_.

He ignored the fleeting thought of _fuck,_ I _ruined my own chances at having a date three weeks ago_ , and quickly got ready to leave. He had to be at the daycare by nine-thirty so that he could help carry the food and activities across the street. He had to put his best foot forward; this was his last chance— he could ask Soobin out, or even just ask for his number, or maybe start smaller than that: _hey, what's up_?

As he looked in the mirror, dark circles be _damned_ , he gave himself a (slightly helpful) pep talk, and left his apartment more determined than ever.

  
  


* * *

  
  


is it inappropriate to ask someone out on a daycare field trip?  
**09:01** **  
** _read_

  
  


* * *

  
  


He arrives a little early, moving out of the way as parents rushed out the door on their way to work. He briefly thought about whether or not this is what Taehyung looks like in the morning and holds back a laugh, pushing his way into the lobby where Kai's class was waiting. He hears a squeal, followed by a chorus of thirteen other squeals, and suddenly Yeonjun is being pulled across the lobby by his nephew, who he didn’t even _see_ come running towards him.

“Ningning, please stay with a teacher at all times!” Soobin says over the top of the heads of his class, and Yeonjun’s breath catches in his throat.

Did Soobin _really_ have to style his hair up for a two hour park field trip?

He didn't know how much he needed to see Soobin's forehead until that very moment. He’s a simple, _easy_ man, really.

He pulled his eyes away as fast as he could, taking a peek at the rest of the classes that were waiting to leave. All the chaperones and teachers donned a (quite ugly, if you asked Yeonjun) highlighter yellow shirt with the daycare’s logo plastered on the front _and_ back and were told to wear black bottoms with it so that the children could find help easily if needed. It was unfair that, despite the way that the shirt hurt Yeonjun’s eyes to look at, Soobin still managed to look good.

And then there was Yeonjun, who had to wear a hat in order to hide the fact that his hair is almost the same color as the atrocity he was wearing.

“Welcome, Yeonjun-ssi!” The head teacher of Kai’s class— Yeonjun genuinely feels bad that he doesn’t remember her name— greets him, “you’re just in time! We’re going to head out a little early— oh, Soobin came in early to bring everything across already, so you don’t need to worry about carrying anything!”

Yeonjun looks back over at Soobin, who was in the process of making sure that every child was holding onto their walking rope. It was an adorable sight; every child in their matching yellow t-shirts and holding their little water bottles, excited for a short couple of hours at the park before nap time. Soobin eventually looks up at him and Yeonjun smiles, his heart threatening to beat right out of his chest when he sees the other man look away with a slight red tint on his cheeks.

Oh, Yeonjun was going to have fun today.  
  


The first hour of the field trip was interesting, to say the least.

Yeonjun didn’t actually know _what_ the field trip entailed outside of the destination— the center director had said that the teachers would plan the activities and would let the chaperones know what to do the day of. It wasn’t that the activities were difficult or anything; they were made for three-year-olds, but Yeonjun wasn’t used to having to watch fourteen children while he played around. 

It helped that he stuck to Soobin’s side like a leech, but he could tell that it came as a surprise to the other. Even to Yeonjun’s own surprise, he was able to hold _entire_ conversations with Soobin when he was willing to talk to him. He owes part of it to the self-given pep talk from that morning, but the confidence definitely came from the knowledge that Yeonjun _knew_ Soobin’s secret while Soobin was _completely_ oblivious to Yeonjun’s own crush.

And so, as one would, Yeonjun planned to use it fully to his advantage.

Fleeting touches, casual words of encouragement, very few grammar mistakes and embarrassing moments— he refused to hold back. At first, Soobin seemed like he didn’t know what to think of it; the first time Yeonjun put his hand on his back, Soobin had almost launched himself across the playground in response. Eventually, he seemed to get used to it, because he starts to awkwardly accept the attention.

Yeonjun counts it as a win.

The second hour is where things start to take a turn.

Soobin finally gets comfortable, and Yeonjun thinks he might pass out from a mix of the sun beating down on them and the way Soobin starts to respond to Yeonjun’s subtle advances.

He begins to stand a little closer of his own accord, and any time Yeonjun puts a hand on him, Soobin would reach out his own to touch it. The laughter was genuine, and he wasn’t shying away from eye contact— in fact, when Yeonjun _had_ to look away, Soobin would move back into his line of vision, forcing Yeonjun to look only at him.

It was a lot, but nothing prepared him for when Soobin was having so much fun, he let one little word slip.

They had been drawing with chalk on the blacktop with the kids, doodling stick figures of the class when Soobin turned to Yeonjun and began to speak, “oh, _hyung_ , can you pass me the—”

He cut himself off immediately, his ears glowing at the slip of tongue, “I’m _so sorry,_ I didn’t mean to—”

“It’s okay, Soobin-ssi, you can call me hyung.” Yeonjun assures him with a smile.

“O-okay.” Soobin stutters a bit, “please speak comfortably with me too then.”

And speak comfortably, Yeonjun does.

With the formalities gone, it seemed as though a wall had gone with it.

It’s finally lunch time, and the kids were sitting at picnic tables enjoying their meal. Yeonjun and Soobin stood off to the side with the other teachers and chaperones, watching the children in silence.

Yeonjun peeked over Soobin’s shoulder to his right, noting the small, but noticeable space between them and the other adults. He glanced at Soobin, and decided then and there.

It was now or never.

“Hey, Soobin-ah.” Yeonjun says quietly.

“Hmm?”

“Do you like me?”

Soobin makes a choking noise almost immediately, and Yeonjun feels bad for asking straight out like that, but he couldn’t let anymore time slip by.

“What— what are you talking about?” Soobin squeaks out.

Yeonjun is quiet for a moment, but then asks, “well, do you hate me?”

"I don't—" Soobin paused, his fingers gripping the hem of his shirt, "I don't _hate_ you. Why would I hate you?"

“Okay,” Yeonjun says in acknowledgment, "Taehyun-ah said as much."

Soobin flinches, "Taehyun-ah should learn how to keep his mouth shut.

And Yeonjun can't help that laugh that bubbles up from his throat, the tension finally leaving his body. It was nice to hear the confirmation from Soobin's mouth; it made him feel light, like a burden had been lifted off of his shoulders.

The rest of the walls were finally coming down.

"Then why were you so cold with me, Soobin-ah?" Yeonjun’s words were laced with a teasing tone, and he smirks triumphantly when Soobin turns his head away, face flushed.

"When was I ever _cold_?"

"You were _so mean_." Yeonjun grabbed at his chest, faking a pain in his heart, "I wanted to cry."

“I was never mean! When was I ever mean?” Soobin lets go of his shirt, his lips forming a pout. He definitely spent _way_ too much time with toddlers. Yeonjun kind of wants to kiss him right now, but he pushes that thought out of his mind for now. He’ll pull it back later.

“Every day! You always looked like you wanted to fight me, or kick me out!” Yeonjun said, “it really was like you hated me or something!”

“Wha—no!” Soobin squeaks again. He grabs Yeonjun’s sleeve, startling the older man, and pulls him back a little farther away from the crowd. They can still see and hear everything, but Yeonjun was happy for the small bit of privacy it gave them.

“Of course I don’t hate you,” Soobin almost whispers, his shoulder drooping slightly as he speaks, “It’s just— I’m— it’s stupid.”

Yeonjun’s eyebrows raise in question as Soobin struggles to continue his thought.

“I doubt it’s stupid,” Yeonjun finally says, giving Soobin another moment to think. In a quick second of unexplained confidence, Yeonjun steps forwards and links his pinkies with Soobin’s, causing the other to fumble his next sentence.

“No, seriously— _seriously_! It’s…so— it’s not worth mentioning.”

“Absolutely not, Soobin-ah!” Yeonjun bounces on his balls of his feet, looking Soobin directly in the eyes, “you can’t just leave it there!”

Soobin looks to be in deep thought for a second, but he finally shakes his head and looks down at the grass before he begins to speak.

"It’s— it’s just— okay, don't laugh! _Look,_ you probably don't remember, but we took an English class together a couple of semesters ago."

(Yeonjun absolutely did _not_ remember.)

"I _really_ wanted to talk to you, but I have a hard time conversing with people I like! And then the semester ended and I was like, well, there goes my chance! But then you just _had_ to come pick up Ningning that one night and suddenly I had another shot, but I couldn't even get you to look at me? You always seemed so nervous around me, but it was completely different every time you talked to the kids!"

Soobin's face is red by the end of his tangent, and Yeonjun begins to find it hard to keep the no laughing promise he made. He releases Soobin's pinkies and reaches up to cup his face with his hands, causing the younger to flinch from the sudden close proximity.

"You're _so cute_ , Soobin-ah." Yeonjun says, lightly tapping the younger's cheeks as he speaks.

"W-what's that supposed to mean?!" Soobin reaches up to wrap his hands around Yeonjun's wrists, and Yeonjun can't help but notice how big Soobin's hands are. It's almost too distracting for Yeonjun's liking, so he does his best to ignore the fact that it feels like his skin is burning under Soobin's not-so-gentle touch.

"You're right, it was stupid." Soobin opens his mouth to defend himself, but Yeonjun continues, "obviously I was going to be nervous around you! Have you seen yourself?"

"Taehyun-ah _does_ always tell me I look too intimidating when people first see me…" Soobin trails off towards the end, seemingly not understanding what Yeonjun was getting at.

"Intimidating— _what_? I meant you're _attractive_ Soobin-ah! I was nervous because I think you're good looking?"

Soobin nearly chokes at Yeonjun's words, throwing the older's hand from his cheeks and replacing them with his own, "hyung, you can't just say things like that!"

"Why not?" Yeonjun questions, "I thought _you_ hated _me_! Do you know how hard it was to watch you and Hueningie pal around when I was standing _right there_?!"

"I thought you were scared of me!" Soobin defends himself, "I didn't want to scare you off by speaking to you!"

There's silence between them for a moment, before both of them suddenly burst into laughter.

"We're both kinda stupid," Yeonjun says, wiping tears from his eyes, "what have we been doing for the last three weeks?"

Soobin just shakes his head and uses his palms to rub his eyes, unable to control the light chuckles he let out.

" _Uncle Junie!_ Why Soobinnie crying?!"

Both of them startle at the voice, turning to meet Kai's big eyes staring up at Yeonjun. The toddler looks ready to start a fight.

"I'm _not_ crying, Ningning." Soobin says, wiping away a single stray tear, "I'm very happy! See?"

Kai squints his eyes at his teacher before launching himself directly in Soobin's arms and squeezing him tightly. He lets go and turns to Yeonjun, his hands on his hips, " _be nice, Uncle Junie!"_

Yeonjun bursts out laughing once more, kneeling down to open his arms, waiting for Kai to give him a hug. Kai just shakes his head and latches onto Soobin's arm instead, his brows furrowed as he pulls his teacher back towards the picnic tables.

"Soobinnie sit, _eat._ "

Yeonjun would've felt hurt by the display, but Soobin's laugh was music to his ears, and he would face rejection time and time again if it meant he could hear it once more.

Hypothetically, of course.

  
  
  
  


* * *

  
  
  


Taehyung tells Yeonjun that he's able to pick up Kai that night, officially ending Yeonjun’s three weeks of pick up duty, but Yeonjun still finds himself making his way to the daycare around six o’clock. He’s nervous as _hell_ , but there’s no harm in wanting to talk to Soobin again. They have a few things to clear up, so there's no harm in it, right?

Right.

He awkwardly makes eye contact with a couple of other teachers he recognizes from other classrooms he has walked by, pretending to use his phone in order to not speak to anyone. It’s around six-fifteen when he hears the door open, and he hears a hushed, “Yeonjun-hyung, what are you doing out here?” that he finally looks up. Soobin’s hair now softly covers his forehead, despite the fact that he obviously still has tons of product in it. He’s wearing a giant black hoodie in place of the ugly yellow daycare shirt, his hood up, and his backpack is hanging off of his shoulder.

Yeonjun probably shouldn’t be thinking that Soobin is the most _beautiful_ human being in that moment, but he really, truly is.

“That’s…that’s a great question.” Yeonjun says. He knew what he _wanted_ to do, but hadn’t thought past that.

He hears Soobin chuckle, and suddenly the younger is beside him, his hand pushing Yeonjun’s lower back to make him move. “Then instead of standing here, accompany me to the convenience store for ice cream— my treat?”

Yeonjun wants to laugh. It’s just him and Soobin in the convenience store, the clerk stepping into the back as soon as she finished ringing them up, and neither of them will speak. It’s awkward but not uncomfortable, and he wonders if _this_ is just how it’s always going to be for them.

“So—” Soobin begins, and Yeonjun notes that the younger has already finished his ice cream, “uh, we should— we should talk, right?”

Yeonjun can tell that Soobin is nervous; his confidence from before suddenly vanishing into the void, and it gives _him_ the confidence boost he needs to finally admit everything.

“I like you, Soobin-ah.” He says bluntly, despite his own ears reddening at the confession, “but I’d like to think I’ve made that _really_ obvious.”

Soobin is fidgeting in his seat, and Yeonjun almost wants to take his hands in his own, but his confidence begins to dwindle as the younger says nothing and looks everywhere— _anywhere_ but at him.

The silence is deafening.

“Sooo,” Yeonjun tugs at his ear, his eyes making their way back to his own ice cream that’s melting in his other hand as he quickly adds, “I know we haven't really known each other for very long, so if you want to me reject me, please tell me so I can buy more ice cream and go home to wallow in my own self pity for a few days.”

“ _No!_ ” Soobin yells suddenly, causing Yeonjun to startle and drop his ice cream on his napkin. It goes completely unnoticed by both of them, and Soobin turns his body to face Yeonjun completely.

“No!” He says again, “I mean yes! I mean— not _no_ as in I’m rejecting you, _no_ as in I’m _not_ rejecting you, yes as in I—”

“ _Soobin_ ,” Yeonjun grabs him by the shoulders, and Soobin stops talking immediately, “ _breathe_.”

In. Out. Yeonjun can’t help but take his own advice as Soobin takes a breath of his own.

“Okay,” Yeonjun says as he lets go of the younger, “let's talk that through again?”

He sees Soobin open his mouth slightly to speak before closing it again. There’s a beat, and suddenly Soobin is standing in front of him, and Yeonjun can feel the other’s hands come up to rest on either side of his face, his fingers shaking slightly from obvious nervousness.

And Yeonjun might have stopped to admire how ethereal Soobin looked up close; the orange light from the sunset visible just outside the convenience store window bathing the younger in colors that Yeonjun believes wouldn't have worked on anyone else, but all of those thoughts are quickly discarded when he feels Soobin's lips on his own, and Yeonjun knows he's _fucked_.

The kiss is over as fast as it started and when Soobin pulls back, Yeonjun instinctively follows, his own hands reaching up to tug on Soobin's sweatshirt drawstrings to drag him back in for one more.

(They bump noses a little harshly and Soobin snorts into the kiss, but Yeonjun thinks it's perfect anyway.)

  
  
  


* * *

  
  


("I didn’t think Soobin would have the balls to kiss you first, honestly.” Taehyun says while the three of them are eating out that following Tuesday, “he was worse than you about his crush, Yeonjun-hyung.”

Soobin nearly chokes on his drink, and Yeonjun just laughs, squeezing Soobin’s hand under the table.

“But like, you kissed him before you even had a first date? What the hell?” Taehyun says after taking a bite. “Also, does your nephew know that his favorite teacher is gonna be at every single family event for the rest of his life?”

And, while completely ignoring the implication of the last part of Taehyun's sentence, both Yeonjun’s and Soobin’s eyes widen at the mention of Kai.

Oh God.

_Kai._

They have to tell Kai.)

**Author's Note:**

> if you've made it this far, thank you so much for reading! ♡
> 
> if you don't work with children, just know that every single child interaction was based on real experiences lol ♡
> 
> yell at me on twitter @dreamoas!!


End file.
